@southeast, I think that the housing stock on prime blocks in CHS is far and away more desireable than most of what's in CHN. You have detached, and semi-detached homes, most with driveways and/or garages. It doesn't shock me at all, especially when you think that people are paying $1.5 million for brick townhouses in Bed Stuy.

Beautiful house, semi detached, and if in/near hassidic area its totally understandable it would fetch this price these days. Not an area I desire, but desirable and necessary for others. Meaning hassidic folks kinda need to live within their community and walking distance to schul . Thats why Gravesend houses are astronomically priced by our views, but not if youre a wealthy Syrian garment tycoon.

At the current rate of inflation, it shouldn't take Crown Heights long to go from $987k to over $1M.

A lot of people will never get to own a home here, which is consistent with most expensive neighborhoods in the US.

I'd agree, except that there is a huge gap between median asking price and average selling price, at least at present. CH is still not as expensive as the median asking price would make one think, though this depends on what area of CH one is looking and on the type of home, etc.

The location may be great as a result of the 2/5 stop, but the block is not particularly nice. There is an ugly condo section in the middle on the north side, and a giant building/compound on the south side taking up half the block. I never really liked the look of this block.

And, added to above, it doesn't parking.

Unless being that close to train station adds approximately 25% in value, I would say this listing is that much more than recent sales of comparable properties in the area, but further east.

A lot of the 1920s 2-families just south of Eastern Parkway seem very competitively priced at a bit over ~$1M, considering they are a fast commute to Manhattan, an easy walk/bike ride to many of Brooklyn's nice neighborhoods, and the equal-sized rental space will pay much more of the mortgage than a small garden apartment. And many have parking, too.

Unfortunately, subway construction costs in the US are much higher than they are in, say, Spain, so property values in outer Brooklyn would need to surge far higher to justify any subway construction on Utica.

Maybe after East New York and the South Bronx are full of high rises, and there are no pre-existing subway lines left to build up.

There's actually a station shell for where the unbuilt South Williamsburg subway would cross on its way down Utica Avenue at the A train's Utica stop:

it won't. the conditions under which the current subway system were built were atrocious and before the age of worker's safety and fair union wages. think of how long it's taken them to even just build an *extension* to the Q train as part of the "second avenue line" (which won't really extend further south than midtown, mark my words!), considering how wealthy that area is and how badly it was needed. we'll sooner say goodbye to all of lower manhattan due to flooding than see a Utica ave subway.

The Second Avenue Subway is "budgeted at approximately $1.7 billion per kilometers while similar projects in Paris and Berlin have checked in at $250 million per kilometer and a London Tube extension cost $450 million per kilometer."

The cost @ehgee mentioned is just insane. I have no clue how this stuff works, but shouldn't it be cheaper if you just stick to the road; meaning, don't go under buildings? And wouldn't the cost be cheaper in Brooklyn, having less big buildings which may need to be supported?

Under the road in most of Brooklyn is where you have utilities (electric, gas, telecom, etc). I'd guess that building underneath them without disturbing them would be a nightmare plus you need spaces for ventilation, mechanicals, etc. Think about the substations that are tucked away in various neighborhoods and the ventilation shafts under sidewalks along subway lines. 2nd Ave subway proves it can be done, but not without a huge cost. Add to that NY state's need to load additional costs onto public works projects (prevailing wage, WC, etc) and the failure of government to drive large construction projects to completion in a timely manner, and I don't think that we'll see a new Brooklyn subway line in our lifetimes. If someone could make it happen however, it would be a game changer.

That won't impact Crown Heights directly, but will put a lot more trains on the moribund rail line that runs through Canarsie, Brownsville, ENY and Ridgewood. Meanwhile, CH and the close in parts of Nostrand and Utica will continue to grow in popularity as they are close to subway lines. It remains to be seen if the current gentrification will reach the far ends of the system (New Lots, Brooklyn College, etc) and what impacts will result.

Gentrification around Brooklyn College has already started. There were a few new condo developments in the area when I was looking 4-5 years ago. The large-scale commercial changes that started with Target are continuing; they even have a Blink Fitness now. I'm waiting to see if the improvements to the streetscape that were promised (#8 on this list: http://www.flatbushjunctionbid.com/top_10_reasons) will actually happen.

Yes, that is why SBS/BRT is being implemented on Utica and other routes.

...SBS will be the closest thing we are going to get to new subway service for decades.

If it isn't coupled with enforcement and limited access, it won't achieve its stated goals.

what do you mean by limited access?

i do love a good SBS bus. The B44+ is the only decent way i can get to williamsburg these days.

My boyfriend bought a house close to the "end" of the 2/5 train. Church ave--not quite the end, but close. Apparently a neighbor told him the reason parking is impossible in their area is because everyone from east Flatbush just drives their cars, parks on their street, and takes the 2/5 to work every morning.

i've heard people in east flatbush, flatlands, and mill basin, etc don't want a subway line at all, however. For a lot of reasons i'm sure but most of all because they don't WANT newcomers having easy access to their neighborhood. Not to mention the easiest way to build a utica line south of empire would probably be an elevated track--Utica is a wide, mostly commerical street. sounds like a homeowner's worst nightmare.

as for the freight project, god i hope that happens. Caton Ave in flatbush is full to capacity with giant horrible freight trucks, especially in the mornings. anything to lighten the load.